T H R E E
by N3L
Summary: Eyes the texture of glass and a tongue quick to deliver wit. She was ready to give hell to anyone who even dared lay a finger on those that she loved. This was who she was when she met him. DISCONTINUED.
1. Prologue

**DISCLAIMER: I own nothing of Naruto. Except this story.  
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**P R O L O G U E**

Three times did she take from the hard lessons life taught her and integrate them unto herself.

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Like a hard calcium deposit hardening layer after layer, Yamanaka Ino's person grew harder as layer upon layer of protection covered her soul. This happened three times.

She didn't even notice when the first layer had begun. She was so young, too young to realize it. The moment Sakura handed her back that red ribbon, the waters of her sea of her soul drew forth with it grains of caution upon the banks of her lively spirit. And little by little they collected. She still loved just as passionately as she did before, but her love was no longer as free or wild as it was before.

She learned to support Sakura at a distance.

It was hardly a year that went by before the second layer was born. Upon return, she was so thankful and grateful that Shikamaru was a little worse for wear, but in one piece. However, her vast sea of compassion raged and stormed as she was greeted with the heart wrenching sight of Chouji carried back unconscious, caked with blood, bruised, and much much thinner than she remembered. Then came Kiba, muddied, and a red hollow flower in his abdomen that had thankfully long stopped blooming. Akamaru, looking tiny and fragile was sprawled across his chest. Then there was Neji with his with smooth porcelain complexion broken with cuts, tangled mess of hair, and two oozing black holes on his shoulder and torso that called silently for help. Then, _then, _there was Naruto. Naruto unconscious, with his pink, raw shiny skin, and a fist sized hole in his jacket, so close to his heart, her perceptive eyes drank it all in and Ino numbly thought it odd how it was only the jacket that was damaged, as Naruto passed by her in Kakashi's arms.

She found her answer right when his unconscious form passed her by. Like a blast of scorching air, Ino was assaulted by Naruto's turbulent memories and emotions, so powerful and raw that they managed to reach her even when he was unawares. She did not know how it was only his jacket that had a hole, but she knew that that hole so close to his heart was undoubtedly caused by Sasuke's fist. To top it off like bile rising in her throat was Sakura with her eyes as red as her broken heart, following them ever so slowly.

As each person passed her by, a mere spectator, they each brought a tide, flooding higher and higher, till it grew into a huge tidal wave that cast it's dreaded shadow on her small stature. After it swept her away, Ino could barely walk on her shaky knees to follow her fallen comrades as she fought to break the violent turbulence inside. Numb and tingling from the sharp pricks received from her fallen comrades' shards of memory.

This was the day where her heart cracked and hardened. This was the day where she cursed Uchiha Sasuke in the dead of the night in the foulest language she knew possible through a veil of tears. These following days are of a heavy contemplative silence in sterile white rooms with shallow breathing and mechanical beeping as her company.

This was where a week later, Ino went screaming and pleading to the Hokage to include her in Sakura's medical studies. Let her have the power to weave those broken bones together. Let her have the power to sew those cracked sinews and torn skin together. Let Ino Yamanaka have the power to heal the physical pains of those she cares for, never to look on helplessly again.

But really, most of all, she wished she had the power to weave a broken heart.

Three years later, the most devastating tidal came at her with achingly slow pace, dawning upon her and cloaking her in the darkest and coldest shadow she'd ever known. It crashed down on her in weighted tons and she hit the hard floor with a violent force before she tossed and turned violently in the current, only then to have vertigo seize her senses till gravity finally pulled her down. She found the strength to push up, but it'd be a long while before she could break the angry surface. Soaked to bone, inside and out, this monster of a wave threw her to and fro as she gaped, stunned, at the warm blood mixing with cold rain on her hands.

Asuma's last dying breath haunted her day and night.

The day after they returned from _that _mission, Ino was suddenly found on her knees, her voice quiet, laced with pain, and eyes dark with the depths of the ocean in front of the Hokage, wordlessly begging her to teach her strength. Never again was she to stand on the sidelines and see a loved one die. Not if _she _could help it.

**_Never again._**

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So this is how it happened.

The three layers cocooning her heart and soul, Yamanaka Ino walked around with this protective shell about her. Eyes the texture of glass and a tongue quick to deliver wit. She was ready to give hell to anyone who even _dared _lay a finger on those that she loved.

This was who she was when she met him.

Just finishing a solo assassination mission that took a grueling _three weeks,_ Ino was off in a small neighboring country of the Sand, perched tiredly in a small discreet food stand, ironically drinking warm sake after she forced her target to drink himself to death; eventually choking in a pool of his own vomit. And if that wasn't it, then alcohol poisoning definitely did the job. It was bound to happen; the man drank himself silly till he was a roaring drunk every night. It looked like a mere accident, no one would ever suspect foul play. Recalling the repulsive smell of alcohol and vomit, Ino wrinkled her nose and took a sip of the hot tea in her hands. Oh, the bitter irony. She gave a small shiver at the cool night air.

Looking at her plate of grilled meat, she gingerly took a piece and took a small bite. Chouji. A small sound of jingling came from the metal on her ears and she almost smiled. Shikamaru's present to her on her 17th birthday. The scent of cigarettes in the night air. She was never just _one _out of three of Team Asuma, right now, as she sat here in a distant foreign country she had her closet friends right here with her. The earrings she wore, the scent she smelled and the food that she ate. Her mind wandered aimlessy for a few moments before returning to the fresh putrid memories of her mission.

Just as her lips grew thin and tight from distaste, a stranger came up two chairs away from her and ordered a bowl of a sort of soup. She instinctively eyed him up and down, sizing him up and decided that he was definitely a shinobi. Her animal instinct also whispered that he was a powerful one. His relatively small frame did not fool her. His soft footsteps were careful, and not a fraction of energy was wasted with his efficient movements. Her glazed mind slowed its normal sharp calculative process as the sake warmed her insides. Her sharp hearing heard his stomach emit a soft gurgle, and she saw his head hang a degree lower in wanting of nourishment. Sleek and feathery hair covered his face but she could tell by his hands that he bore a rather fair complexion.

Growing apathetic and losing curiosity with the stranger, Ino's attention fell back to her own entrée and ate. Soon she felt his eyes on her, and was thankful that she looked worn for worse with her plain and disheveled clothing and stringy hair. It would lessen her chances of having to fending of annoying male troubles. She thought about the shitty times in live of being a shinobi, the dark unspeakable things that occurred in the dead of the night, and the sound of her target's retching, and the vomit splattering over the floor but brushed it off. There are dark things in the world and there are still things worth living for. Be positive, she reminded herself; she had just finished her mission, and she would be going home in few hours time.

His unaffected gaze quickly turned away as a steaming bowl of soup arrived, and he ate with surprising composure despite his obvious hunger and injury.

She stood up groggily to leaving after slapping down a few bills for the owner and glanced one last time at the dark stranger's smooth silhouette, who turned to glance at her at the exact same time.

A stunning dark shade of silver assaulted her and a strong sense of familiarity trickled down her spine. Her long legs moved automatically forward and she continued on, suddenly wondering why she kept seeing the color red even though it was silver that stunned her. It was a handsome face that turned to her, very handsome indeed even under the grips of injury, but Ino knew better than to fall for a pretty face now, she learned that what was shown on the outside rarely matched what was on the inside. It _was very handsome though, _and probably one of the most handsome faces she'd ever seen.

Shaking her head, Ino waved off her vain superficial thoughts and plodded on her way to her hotel, and thought of her stranger no more.

Little did she know that soon he would soon cease to be a stranger.


	2. Unexpected

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**U N E X P E C T E D  
**

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Ino's eyelids fluttered open to the warm sunshine painting streaks of gold in her room. Sitting up slowly and stretching like a cat, she concluded that it was midday. She smiled to herself as she surveyed the familiar surroundings of her room. Oh yeah, it was definitely worth traveling back to Konoha in the same night of accomplishing her mission.

Very happy to be home after spending three weeks away, the Yamanaka finished off the details of her mission report and stepped out onto the small street of her apartment building to slowly merge into Konoha's main roads that brimmed with activity. However, there was something different about the crowd. There was a sort of electric buzz haunting the air, like the footprints left from a stampede. Something happened recently while she was away.

But, what?

The kunoichi slipped through the crowd, hoping to find a familiar face to fill her in. She had been gone for three weeks, could so much happen in that period of time? Apparently so. It just figures, that when something that _big_ happens, _she's out on a mission. _Questions filled her head, as she noticed another peculiar incident. The usual lax attitude of the shinobi population as a whole was disturbed. The few ninja on break had taboo written all over them. Secrets oozed in their whispered debates.

Something definitely happened. Something big that affected the entire village.

Fingering the report in her hand nervously, the Hokage tower peeked at her over the rooftops. Ino grew tense as she approached the tower, the air was thick with news and it seeped through her skin. The hairs on the back of her neck grew stiff as she talked with the guards at the doorway. Calming herself down, she willed herself to block out all external influences. That didn't prevent her from getting more curious with every step however. ANBU were crawling all over the place, the security was high, and the Yamanaka noted that the usual chakra detecting jutsu's were reinforced, even a few new ones were placed here and there. The occasional ANBU and worker greeted her, however the simple "hello's" and "long-time-no-see's" were terse and cut short. Now, they were usually busy people, and the greetings were usually cut short, but there was an underlying strain to everything. The puzzled kunoichi grew more suspicious within each passing second.

She felt a strange presence in the tower and wasn't quite sure what to make of it. Whatever's going on, it couldn't be good.

It felt like a small and incredibly strange eternity to Ino before the regal doors of the Hokage's office greeted her. Despite her enforced mental barrier though, a wave of agitation passed through the wood and made her itch as she rapped sharply on the doors. The raised voices within stopped abruptly, and a moment of stillness passed. The door clicked and the Ino was surprised to be greeted by a pair of eyes bluer than her own. The boy looked as if he'd just snuck out of the hospital. He was covered in bandages, and even had a limp. What in the world was he doing?! Uzumaki Naruto mirrored her surprise as he greeted her, stepped aside to let her in. Ino processed his flushed cheeks and flustered aura and figured that he was the cause of the raised voices and the wave of agitation that made her itch.

"Back, Ino-chan?"

"Ah…yes. What the hell happened to _you?"_

He hobbled past her, and gave an exaggerated wave without an answer.

"Yamanaka, back already?" Ino nodded and decided to overlook the fact that she had been gone a _whole friggin' three weeks._

"Yes, Hokage-Sama. I have 'solved' the Yagushi problem." The Yamanaka bowed in greeting before handing in her report. Tsunade's youth illusion was less prominent and she looked older than usual.

"Good, very good. Now take a seat. I've been waiting for you."

"You have?" Ino's eyebrows raised in inquiry. Could it have to do with the cause of all the tension in the village? If so, she wasn't sure whether she should be excited or dreading it…

Tsunade sighed a heavy sigh, the bags under her eyes grew more prominent than ever. The wheels in Ino's head turned furiously as she digested the scene before her. The buzz among the shinobi population, Naruto flustered and agitated, Tsunade stressed and weary, she didn't dare think it, but her intuition wouldn't let it go, could it be…_could it be that_ –

"Sasuke is back."

Ino Yamanaka froze. Her eyes were as big as the moon and her breathing stilled. Her mouth hung open as she was interrupted mid revelation. Catching herself, she moved to speak, then stopped, before repeating the process only to be interrupted again.

"He returned two weeks ago, while you were away on your mission. He is currently being heavily guarded in this _very tower_. The Uchiha won't budge other than to say that Orochimaru along with his brother, Uchiha Itachi are dead. He's given me this as proof, and I'm currently in the process of testing them to see if they match and are in fact, real. Though I highly doubt these would prove to be fake." With that, Tsunade held up two small jars, both filled with a sickly yellowish preservation liquid. Ino squinted at them for a moment before realized that one contained the head of a white snake, and the other…a single eye. An incredibly eerie one at that. The hair on the back of her neck stood up on an end for the second time that day as she observed it. Veined and bloodshot, and a pupil adorned with a curious pattern that resembled the standard Sharingan. The Hokage quickly put the items away and looked eye to eye with Ino. "I've got another assignment for you, Ino."

Blinking rapidly to escape the surreality of her current predicament, she nodded an affirmative. Ino felt as if her voice had left her at the moment.

The Hokage drew back her imposing presence and hawk-like gaze to lean far back into her chair, taking on a familiar stance as she laced her fingers together and rested her elbows on the desk. "Are you ready?"

"R-Ready for service." Ino winced as she stumbled over reply.

With that, the Hokage drew up her file and began citing her information. "Yamanaka Ino, ranking Special Jounin. Second in command at the Head of Intelligence. Number 0012856. Another completed B-rank mission successfully. Looking at your history and recent accomplishments, they are rather impressive. The assignment I'm about to hand you is going to be a test of will, strength, and endurance. If you complete this mission to my satisfaction, then you will be promoted into the ANBU."

An hour later, Ino left the tower in a daze. She was to interrogate _the_Uchiha Sasuke and find out "_anything and everything" _as Tsunade put herself. She had a 48 hours period to recuperate and rest. Giving her a two day break seemed a like a sick joke. Oh, and it was a super-duper-top-secret-mission that absolutely _no one _was supposed to knowFuck._It's been six fucking __**years.**__Uchiha__**fucking**__Sasuke had finally returned. R_aven hair and cold eyes. A voice that kept everything and everyone at bay._Uchiha __**fucking**__Sasuke._Ino didn't know what to think, what the hell _to feel_ at first, but after a few moments of wandering, she was shaken from her reverie as she spied an unmistakable head of bubblegum pink.

Sakura.

Red eyes, and hollow green eyes. A soft broken voice hoarse from crying. Bitterness. Best friends. Red ribbons. Rivalry. A flower in blooming. Haruno Sakura. Chouji, thinner. Neji. Lee. Shikamaru. Naruto. _Naruto and the hole so close to his heart._ Ino spied Sakura's weary state. Anger. Lot's of old rusty anger and contempt from what the bastard caused surfaced and began to spread.

That bastard was going to _suffer._

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**A/N: Well, damn. Sorry that this is so short, but I AM currently working on another one-shot. It'll probably be up soon.**_  
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